{"id":67768,"date":"2026-06-05T22:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=67768"},"modified":"2026-06-05T17:43:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:43:24","slug":"persona-veterans-villioncode-is-a-piece-of-entertainment-but-it-also-has-the-potential-to-change-your-life-character-designer-ilya-kuvshinov-talks-dev-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/persona-veterans-villioncode-is-a-piece-of-entertainment-but-it-also-has-the-potential-to-change-your-life-character-designer-ilya-kuvshinov-talks-dev-process\/","title":{"rendered":"Persona veterans\u2019 new\u00a0school JRPG\u00a0Villion:Code\u00a0\u201cis\u00a0a\u00a0piece\u00a0of entertainment, but it also has the potential to change your life.\u201d\u00a0Character designer Ilya\u00a0Kuvshinov\u00a0talks about\u00a0dev process\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Published by Compile Heart,&nbsp;<strong>Villion:Code<\/strong>&nbsp;is just around the corner, set to launch in Japan on June 25 for Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and PS4 (digital-only). &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/vc202603-o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Villion:Code<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;is a school-themed JRPG set in an academy city dedicated to training individuals to save the Earth from impending extinction. The story begins when the city is suddenly sealed off from the outside world. Trapped in isolation, the students must confront strange anomalies engulfing the city and fight off people who have transformed into monstrous creatures. Amidst these dire circumstances, each character is forced to face the \u201ckarma\u201d they carry.&nbsp;Gameplay revolves around action-based combat, peculiar tube-shaped dungeons, and \u201cGenome Editing\u201d among other&nbsp;mechanics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Villion:Code&nbsp;is designed and produced by Kouji Okada, known as the co-creator of the Megami Tensei and Persona series. The scenario is penned by Tadashi Satomi, another&nbsp;Atlus&nbsp;veteran and longtime collaborator of Okada, while the soundtrack is composed by Tsukasa Masuko, also of Shin Megami Tensei fame. The character design is&nbsp;helmed&nbsp;by illustrator Ilya Kuvshinov, known for his involvement in Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AUTOMATON recently&nbsp;interviewed&nbsp;Okada and&nbsp;Kuvshinov to find out more about how&nbsp;they&nbsp;created the characters and visual identity of&nbsp;Villion:Code.&nbsp;While this part of the interview focuses more closely on&nbsp;Kuvshinov,&nbsp;you can&nbsp;check out&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/persona-veterans-new-school-jrpg-villioncode-is-a-return-to-console-games-after-10-years-fueled-by-his-fascination-with-genome-editing-and-the-origin-of-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">part one&nbsp;of this interview<\/a>&nbsp;for our detailed talk with Okada.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-003-1080x1080-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-67771\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-003-1080x1080-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-003-1080x1080-1-380x380.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-003-1080x1080-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-003-1080x1080-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-003-1080x1080-1-250x250.jpg 250w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"designing-a-character-is-like-designing-a-book-cover\"><strong>Designing a character is like designing a book cover<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the&nbsp;major defining&nbsp;characteristics of the&nbsp;Villion:Code&nbsp;cast,&nbsp;which&nbsp;reflects&nbsp;Kuvshinov\u2019s&nbsp;personal artistic preference,&nbsp;is a consistent use of dual-colored rim lighting&nbsp;across both character&nbsp;portraits&nbsp;and 3D models. Characters are typically lit with cyan on one side and magenta on the other. While this&nbsp;stylistic choice&nbsp;is meant to&nbsp;add visual interest&nbsp;too,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;not&nbsp;there&nbsp;only&nbsp;for&nbsp;aesthetics. According to Kuvshinov,&nbsp;the contrast&nbsp;of colors&nbsp;reflects a&nbsp;thematic duality&nbsp;inherent to humans,&nbsp;representing&nbsp;the \u201cnatural side vs the side controlled by science\u201d&nbsp;and \u201cdestruction vs creation.\u201d Additionally, since every character shares this visual trait regardless of&nbsp;gender or background,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;a&nbsp;way of suggesting a common \u201cDNA\u201d&nbsp;shared by all&nbsp;humans.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kuvshinov&nbsp;also&nbsp;made deliberate&nbsp;deviations from this&nbsp;rule.&nbsp;For instance,&nbsp;the character&nbsp;Phantom Lady has&nbsp;a much&nbsp;less pronounced rim lighting,&nbsp;which&nbsp;is supposed to subtly raise doubts and&nbsp;make&nbsp;you question&nbsp;whether&nbsp;or not&nbsp;she is human at all.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-001-1080x608-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-67772\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-001-1080x608-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-001-1080x608-1-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-001-1080x608-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-002-1080x608-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-67773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-002-1080x608-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-002-1080x608-1-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-002-1080x608-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Eyes&nbsp;are another part of&nbsp;Villion:Code&nbsp;you\u2019re&nbsp;going to want to pay attention to. This is another aspect&nbsp;Kuvshinov&nbsp;was particular about,&nbsp;and&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;what&nbsp;gives each character individuality beyond other&nbsp;physical&nbsp;characteristics like hair color&nbsp;or&nbsp;face shape.&nbsp;Rather than&nbsp;plain&nbsp;black pupils, each character\u2019s eyes&nbsp;reveal colors&nbsp;and patterns&nbsp;unique only to them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While some of the details&nbsp;in&nbsp;Villion:Code\u2019s&nbsp;designs might be small and inconspicuous,&nbsp;Kuvshinov&nbsp;says each decision is there to convey&nbsp;clues and information about the characters.&nbsp;\u201cWhen looking at a design, you might just think&nbsp;\u2018That\u2019s a picture of a character,\u2019&nbsp;but in reality,&nbsp;you\u2019re&nbsp;unconsciously&nbsp;picking up on&nbsp;even the smallest design details.&nbsp;You&nbsp;might form an impression such as, \u2018This character\u2019s face is hidden by their hair, so perhaps they\u2019re a bit shy and want to hide themselves.\u2019 People tend to form a vague idea of what someone is like based on their first impression, don\u2019t they?&nbsp;Of course,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;not right to judge people by their appearance. For example, you&nbsp;can\u2019t&nbsp;know the entire contents of a book just by looking at the cover, but the&nbsp;cover\u2019s&nbsp;role is to convey an impression&nbsp;of what&nbsp;the book is about.&nbsp;When it comes to&nbsp;character design, I consider&nbsp;my job done&nbsp;if the character\u2019s personality is&nbsp;evident&nbsp;from their appearance.&nbsp;For instance, with Anastasia, you might think, \u2018This person&nbsp;must be&nbsp;a cosplayer who streams and probably has lots of followers,\u2019 or with&nbsp;Sushiro, \u2018This person looks strong, somewhat clever, and like someone you can rely on.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-005-1080x608-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-67774\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-005-1080x608-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-005-1080x608-1-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-005-1080x608-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This&nbsp;same intent is&nbsp;reflected&nbsp;in&nbsp;details&nbsp;like the&nbsp;ear-pieces, called&nbsp;Manas Helix, worn by each character&nbsp;in&nbsp;Villion:Code.&nbsp;Kuvshinov&nbsp;designed these to be&nbsp;customized based on personality,&nbsp;drawing from the way&nbsp;people personalize their phones&nbsp;in real life.&nbsp;Even&nbsp;hair&nbsp;highlights&nbsp;are&nbsp;varied&nbsp;between&nbsp;soft, rounded shapes to sharper or droplet-like forms&nbsp;to differentiate characters\u2019 temperaments&nbsp;at a glance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"gene-mutated-monsters-and-human-karma\"><strong>Gene-mutated monsters and \u201chuman karma\u201d<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to designing&nbsp;Villion:Code\u2019s&nbsp;monsters, the process took a lot of&nbsp;trial-and-error.&nbsp;Kuvshinov&nbsp;says his early prototypes were rejected&nbsp;on the grounds of&nbsp;being too cute&nbsp;(and the one he showed&nbsp;us&nbsp;in person&nbsp;was quite round and endearing too), which helped him realize that,&nbsp;being creatures destined to be killed in-game, the monsters had to&nbsp;look the part. He then&nbsp;proceeded&nbsp;to go&nbsp;too far in the opposite direction (he showed us a gory monster design with limb-like appendages growing out of an open skull)&nbsp;and got told \u201cPlease stop, this is horrifying.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The final approach&nbsp;Kuvshinov&nbsp;ultimately&nbsp;went for&nbsp;centers on a hybrid concept: creatures formed&nbsp;through&nbsp;a fusion of human and animal DNA. Some&nbsp;retain&nbsp;recognizable human features, while others lose them entirely as mutation progresses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-006-1080x608-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-67769\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-006-1080x608-1.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-006-1080x608-1-380x214.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/villioncode-202603-432334-006-1080x608-1-768x432.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This ties directly into&nbsp;Villion:Code\u2019s&nbsp;theme of \u201chuman karma,\u201d according to producer Okada. \u201cIf I had to put it into words,&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;say this work does&nbsp;contain&nbsp;Buddhist elements. While&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;not setting out to discuss religion per se,&nbsp;I feel that such a perspective&nbsp;best encapsulates the concept of human karma. When we speak&nbsp;of karma,&nbsp;I think it&nbsp;ultimately boils&nbsp;down to \u2018worldly&nbsp;desires,\u2019&nbsp;or, to put it more precisely, \u2018various forms of desire. That said, I&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;believe&nbsp;desire is&nbsp;necessarily bad, and&nbsp;I&nbsp;don&#8217;t&nbsp;think humanity would have progressed this far without desire. But if it goes too far, things can take a strange turn. In the story of&nbsp;Villion:Code, too,&nbsp;there\u2019s&nbsp;a narrative where the darker side of such desires&nbsp;emerges, leading humans to turn into monsters.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking back on his experience working on&nbsp;Villion:Code&nbsp;and experiencing it as a game,&nbsp;Kuvshinov&nbsp;comments, \u201cI believe it\u2019s a work that can be enjoyed simply as entertainment, but that&nbsp;it&nbsp;also has the potential to change lives, even if just a little. Once&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;finished playing, I think it&nbsp;won\u2019t&nbsp;just make you&nbsp;reflect on&nbsp;various&nbsp;things, but&nbsp;might also give you hope. I believe that even after the game ends,&nbsp;Villion:Code&nbsp;will help you learn to enjoy your own life outside the game. I think it&nbsp;will make you&nbsp;cherish everyday life, your heart, and the very existence of others. Please look forward to seeing what kind of story unfolds.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This was part&nbsp;two&nbsp;of a two-part interview.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/interviews\/persona-veterans-new-school-jrpg-villioncode-is-a-return-to-console-games-after-10-years-fueled-by-his-fascination-with-genome-editing-and-the-origin-of-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In part&nbsp;one<\/a>, we&nbsp;talked to Koji&nbsp;Okada&nbsp;about&nbsp;the fundamental ideas behind&nbsp;Villion:Code\u2019s&nbsp;game design.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/vc202603-o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Villion:Code<\/a>&nbsp;is&nbsp;scheduled for release on June 25,&nbsp;2026&nbsp;for Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PS5 and PS4 (digital only).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">[Interviewer: Sayoko Narita]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interview with Ilya Kuvshinov, character and monster designer behind Kouji Okada&#8217;s new school JRPG Villion:Code.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":67770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[64,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-development","category-interviews"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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